Mariana Bertola (May 7, 1865 — December 7, 1955) was an American educator, physician, and reformer based in California.

Early life

Mariana Bertola was born in

Pacheco, California Pacheco is a census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California. The population was 4,183 at the 2020 census. It is bounded by Martinez to the north and west, Concord to the east, and Pleasant Hill to the south. History The t ...

, the daughter of Italian immigrant parents, Antonio Bertola and Catherine DeVoto Bertola. Her father came to California from Italy by 1852 as a miner, but soon became a grocer and a vineyard operator. Mariana attended San Jose State Normal School and, later, Cooper Medical College at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, graduating in 1899. She completed her obstetrics internship in 1903.Sebastian Fichera
''Italy on the Pacific: San Francisco’s Italian Americans''
(Springer 2011): 113-116.

Career

Mariana Bertola started as a teacher; she taught school and was a school principal for seven years, in

Martinez, California Martinez (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Martínez'') is a city in and the county seat of Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Located on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strai ...

. While she was a principal, she wrote to

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...

, inviting him to come speak at her school in 1895. As a doctor, she was a member of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

and the San Francisco County Medical Society. She supported the "California Plan," for every county hospital to offer a maternity ward and a children's ward. She was the college physician at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

beginning in 1903. She arranged for translators for Italian-speaking patients at San Francisco-area hospitals and gave lectures on health topics in the Italian community and to women's groups throughout the city. Bertola was an active

clubwoman The club movement is an American women's social movement that started in the mid-19th century and spread throughout the United States. It established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While wome ...

. She served a term as president of the

Native Daughters of the Golden West The Native Daughters of the Golden West is an American non-profit organization for women born in California. The organization focuses on the care and preservation of California history. It is the sister organization to the Native Sons of the Golde ...

, and helped to create the Native Daughters' Home and Native Daughters' Children's Agency, two philanthropic projects of the women's club. She was also founder in 1909 of the

Vittoria Colonna Vittoria Colonna (April 149225 February 1547), marchioness of Pescara, was an Italian noblewoman and poet. As an educated and married noblewoman whose husband was in captivity, Colonna was able to develop relationships within the intellectual ci ...

Club for Italian women in San Francisco, and a member of the Cosmopolitan Educational Foundation. She was on the women's board of directors for the

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

in 1915. Bertola was president of the Travelers' Aid Society in San Francisco, and president of the Woman's Vigilant Committee (WVC), formed in 1921 to protect girls from criminal activity. During the

Fatty Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel ...

scandal she was outspoken as head of the WVC on the need for more protections for women in the entertainment industry. She was president of the California Federation of Women's Clubs in 1926 and 1927.

Personal life

Mariana Bertola remained active with women's clubs well into her eighties. She died in 1955, aged 90 years, in San Francisco. The Bertola Assembly of California Women was named for Mariana Bertola.Louis Lyons and Josephine Wilson, eds.
''Who's Who Among the Women of California''
(Security Publishing Company 1922): 197.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertola, Mariana 1865 births 1955 deaths American obstetricians 19th-century American educators Educators from California People from Contra Costa County, California 20th-century American physicians Physicians from California American people of Italian descent 20th-century American women physicians Clubwomen 19th-century American women educators San Jose State University alumni